1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension system of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a damping means by a rotary damper for a suspension system of a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The suspension system of a vehicle such as an automobile generally requires a damping means incorporated therein so as to damp the bounding and rebounding movement of the vehicle wheel relative to the vehicle body. Since the bounding and rebounding movement of the vehicle wheel is a substantially linear movement, the damping means of the suspension system is generally constructed as a linear damping means consisting of a linear cylinder and a linear piston. However, since the vertical dimension of the space available for mounting such a linear damper is relatively limited, the maximum stroke of the linear damper is correspondingly limited, thus correspondingly limiting the maximum bounding and rebounding stroke of the vehicle wheel, much less if a higher stability of stroking engagement between the cylinder and the piston is ensured.
A rotary damper is known as a means for providing a damping effect against a relative rotation movement between two damper members adapted to rotate relative to one another about a common axis. Since the relative rotation movement between the two damper members can be readily converted into a substantially linear relative movement of a certain desired stroke by means of a pair of arm members each having an appropriate arm length and connected with each of the two rotary damper members, it will be more convenient in some cases to employ a rotary damper for damping the bounding and rebounding movement of the vehicle wheel relative to the vehicle body.
In Japanese Patent Application No. 5-284077, it was proposed to use a rotary damper for damping the bounding and rebounding movement of a carrier for a vehicle wheel such that one of the two relatively rotatable damper members of the rotary damper is firmly mounted to the carrier adjacent a seat of a suspension spring at a front or a rear side thereof, while the other of the relatively rotatable damper members is supported from a corresponding portion of the vehicle body via an articulated reaction link mechanism which converts the bounding and rebounding movement of the vehicle wheel relative to the vehicle body into a corresponding rotational movement of said other damper member relative to said one damper member.
However, in such a construction that the rotary damper is mounted to the carrier adjacent the spring seat to be on a front or a rear side thereof, the mass of the rotary damper displaced substantially from the central axis of the carrier exerts a relatively large unbalanced force to the carrier due to its inertia induced at every turn between the bounding and the rebounding movement of the vehicle wheel which undesirably affects the alignment of the suspension system.